'Some Went Down like Heroes, in That Pennsylvania Field'
It is good to honor and remember the victims of September 11th, but also the heroes—those who heard the first news of those first victims, and adapted, and took action; those who sacrificed themselves to save unknown countless others:
With the attacks unfolding, air traffic officials began issuing warnings through the Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS). Ed Ballinger, the United flight dispatcher, began sending text cockpit warnings to United Airlines flights . . . . [¶]
At 9:22, after learning of the events at the World Trade Center, [first officer] LeRoy Homer's wife, Melody Homer, had an ACARS message sent to her husband in the cockpit asking if he was all right.[39] [¶]
At 09:24, Flight 93 received Ballinger's ACARS warning, "Beware any cockpit intrusion – two a/c [aircraft] hit World Trade Center".[40] At 9:26, pilot Jason Dahl, apparently puzzled by the message, responded, "Ed, confirm latest mssg plz -- Jason".[40] At 09:27:25, the flight crew responded to routine radio traffic from air traffic control. This was the last communication made by the flight crew before the plane was hijacked.[41]
. . .
At 09:28:17, ATC employees at Cleveland and the pilots of aircraft in Flight 93's vicinity picked up on the, "unintelligible sounds of possible screaming or a struggle".[32][43] A Cleveland Air Traffic Controller replied, "Somebody call Cleveland?" but received no response.[27] Thirty-five seconds later, the aircraft made another transmission. In both calls, a man was shouting, "Mayday! Mayday! Get out of here! Get out of here! Get out of here!"[43] When Melody Homer and Sandy Dahl, Jason Dahl's wife, listened to the tape, Melody identified First Officer LeRoy Homer as the man who was shouting.[44][45][46][29]: 153
The aircraft dropped 685 feet (209 m) in thirty seconds before the hijackers stabilized it. On the morning of September 11, Flight 93 was the only hijacked aircraft to broadcast a distress call. It is likely that because the pilots had been made aware of the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and to be on alert for cockpit intrusion, when they came under attack, they keyed the microphone so the struggle might be overheard by controllers on the ground. Cleveland Center air traffic controller John Werth believed it was not just a call for help but a warning.[29]: 81–82
. . .
Officials believe that at around 09:28, the hijackers killed Mark Rothenberg,[47] assaulted the cockpit, and moved the remaining passengers and crew to the rear of the plane . . . to minimize any chance that either the crew or the passengers would interfere with the attack.[27]
. . .
The cockpit voice recorder began recording the final thirty minutes of Flight 93 at 09:31:57.[48] At this moment, it recorded Jarrah announcing, "Ladies and gentlemen: here the captain. [sic] Please sit down, keep remaining seating. [sic] We have a bomb on board. So sit."[49] The commission believed Jarrah tried to make an announcement to the passengers, but pressed the wrong button, sending the message to Cleveland controllers; Mohamed Atta had made the same error on Flight 11.[50] The controller understood the transmission, but responded, "Calling Cleveland center, you're unreadable. Say again, slowly."[51]
The flight recordings indicate that a wounded man, believed to be Dahl, was moaning in the cockpit.[52] The man pleaded, "No more," or "No," repeatedly, as the hijackers shouted for him to sit down and to stop touching something.[53] Sandy believes that Dahl took actions to interfere with the hijackers, including possibly disengaging the autopilot, and rerouting the plane's radio frequency so that Jarrah's attempts to communicate with the passengers were instead transmitted to air traffic controllers.[54][55] A woman, thought to be first-class flight attendant Debbie Welsh, is heard being held captive in the background and is heard struggling with the hijackers and pleading, "Please, please, don't hurt me."[56] Jarrah instructed the autopilot to turn the plane and head east at 09:35:09.[57] The aircraft ascended to 40,700 feet (12,400 m) and air traffic controllers immediately moved several aircraft out of Flight 93's flightpath.[51] The woman in the cockpit is heard to say, "I don't want to die, I don't want to die" before being killed or otherwise silenced, followed by one of the hijackers saying in Arabic, "Everything is fine. I finished."[56]
At 09:39, two minutes after Flight 77 impacted the Pentagon, air traffic controllers overheard Jarrah say, "Ah, here's the captain: [sic] I would like you all to remain seated. We have a bomb aboard, and we are going back to the airport, and we have our demands. So please remain quiet."[48][58] Air traffic controllers did not hear from the flight again.
. . .
In the cockpit, the wounded man continued to moan and seemingly repeatedly disengaged the autopilot,[59] as at 09:40, there were horn sounds that indicated the hijackers were having trouble with the autopilot and were fiddling with a green knob. "This green knob?" one of the hijackers asks the other in Arabic. Another hijacker responded, "Yes, that's the one."[59] At 09:41:56, the wounded man, in a moaning tone, said, "Oh, man!".[29]: 96 As the man continued moaning, the hijackers were heard to say "Inform them, and tell him to talk to the pilot; bring the pilot back". As the moaning man was thought to be Dahl, the hijackers might have possibly been referring to Homer, suggesting he was also still alive.[44][45][46][29]: 96
. . .
Passengers and crew began making phone calls to officials and family members starting at 09:30 using GTE airphones and mobile phones. Altogether, the passengers and crew made 35 airphone calls and two cell phone calls from the flight.[60] Ten passengers and two crew members were able to connect, providing information to family, friends, and others.[32]
. . .
Tom Burnett made several phone calls to his wife, Deena, beginning at 09:30:32 from rows 24 and 25, though he was assigned a seat in row 4.[43][61] Burnett explained that the plane had been hijacked by men claiming to have a bomb. He also said a passenger had been stabbed with a knife and that he believed the bomb threat was a ruse to control the passengers.[61] Burnett said the stabbed passenger was dead, having failed to exhibit signs of a pulse.[62] The true nature of the mission came to light only 6 minutes after the hijacking commenced, when Burnett's wife informed him of the attacks on the World Trade Center. From there, Burnett was quickly able to piece together the hijackers' true intentions, replying that he had overheard the hijackers talking about "crashing this plane..." before arriving at the shocked conclusion: "Oh, my God. It's a suicide mission." He began asking her for information about the attacks, interrupting her from time to time to tell other passengers nearby what she was saying. He then hung up.[63] In his next call, Deena informed Burnett of the attack on the Pentagon. Burnett relayed this to the other passengers, and told Deena he and a group of other passengers were putting together a plan to take control of the plane.[64] He ended his last call by saying, "Don't worry, we're going to do something."[63][65] An unknown flight attendant attempted to contact the United Airlines maintenance facility at 09:32:29. The call lasted 95 seconds, but was not received as it may have been in queue.[27] Flight attendant Sandra Bradshaw called the maintenance facility at 09:35:40 from row 33.[43] She reported the flight had been hijacked by men with knives who were in the cabin and flight deck and had stabbed another flight attendant, possibly Debbie Welsh.[61]
. . .
Mark Bingham called his mother at 09:37:03 from row 25. He reported that the plane had been hijacked by three men who claimed to have a bomb.[67] Jeremy Glick called his wife at 09:37:41 from row 27 and told her the flight was hijacked by three dark-skinned men who looked "Iranian", wearing red bandanas and wielding knives.[32][61] Glick remained connected until the end of the flight.[43] He reported that the passengers voted whether to "rush" the hijackers.[27] The United air traffic control coordinator for West Coast flights, Alessandro "Sandy" Rogers, alerted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Herndon Command Center in Herndon, Virginia, that Flight 93 was not responding and was off course. A minute later, the transponder was turned off, but the Cleveland controller continued to monitor the flight on primary radar.[51] The Herndon Center relayed information on Flight 93 to FAA headquarters. Joseph DeLuca called his father at 09:43:03 from row 26 to inform him the flight had been hijacked.
Todd Beamer attempted to call his wife from row 32 at 09:43:48, but was routed to GTE phone operator Lisa D. Jefferson.[27] Beamer told the operator the flight had been hijacked and that two people who he thought were the pilots were on the floor, dead or injured.
. . .
Flight attendant CeeCee Lyles called her husband at 09:47:57 and left him a message saying the plane had been hijacked.[43] Marion Britton called her friend, Fred Fiumano, at 09:49:12. Fiumano recalled, "she said, 'We're gonna. They're gonna kill us, you know, We're gonna die.' And I told her, 'Don't worry, they hijacked the plane, they're gonna take you for a ride, you go to their country, and you come back. You stay there for vacation.' You don't know what to say – what are you gonna say? I kept on saying the same things, 'Be calm.' And she was crying and ... screaming and yelling."[37]
Flight attendant Sandra Bradshaw called her husband at 09:50:04 and told him she was heating water to throw at the hijackers.[43] Passenger Lauren Grandcolas called her husband twice, once before takeoff and once during the hijacking. He missed both her calls. Although it was thought that Grandcolas lent her phone to Honor Elizabeth Wainio,[37] it was later determined to be Britton.[29]: 240 Wainio called her stepmother at 09:53:43 and concluded, four and a half minutes later, by saying, "I have to go. They're breaking into the cockpit. I love you."[73] Jarrah dialed in the VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) frequency for the VOR navigational aid at Reagan National Airport at 09:55:11 to direct the plane toward Washington, D.C.[39]
Bradshaw, on the phone with her husband, said "Everyone is running up to first class. I've got to go. Bye."[74] Beamer told GTE phone operator Lisa Jefferson that he and a few passengers were getting together and were planning to "jump" the hijacker with the bomb.[70] Beamer recited the Lord's Prayer and the 23rd Psalm with Jefferson, prompting others to join in. Beamer requested of Jefferson, "If I don't make it, please call my family and let them know how much I love them." After this, Jefferson heard muffled voices and Beamer answering, "Are you ready? Okay. Let's roll." These were Beamer's last words to Jefferson.[69][70][71]
During the hijacking, Flight 93 passed within 1,000 feet (300 m) (instead of the normal 2,000 feet (610 m)) of a NASA KC-135 returning from a microgravity flight over Lake Ontario. NASA pilot Dominic Del Rosso recalled how odd the silence on the radio was that morning.[75]
. . .
The passenger revolt on Flight 93 began at 09:57, after the passengers voted on whether to act.[32] The plane left its Washington, D.C. course after the passengers revolted and the hijackers began maneuvering the plane violently in response.[32]
The hijackers in the cockpit became aware of the revolt at 09:57:55, Jarrah exclaiming, "Is there something? A fight?"[48]
. . .
CeeCee Lyles called her husband once more from a cell phone and told him the passengers were forcing their way into the cockpit.[27] Jarrah began to roll the airplane left and right to knock the passengers off balance. He told another hijacker in the cockpit at 09:58:57, "They want to get in here. Hold, hold from the inside. Hold from the inside. Hold."[48] Jarrah changed tactics at 09:59:52 and pitched the nose of the airplane up and down to disrupt the assault.[32]
The cockpit voice recorder captured the sounds of crashing, screaming, and the shattering of glass and plates.[81] Three times in a period of five seconds there were shouts of pain or distress from a hijacker outside the cockpit, suggesting a hijacker who was standing guard outside the cockpit was being attacked by the passengers.[29]: 103 Jarrah stabilized the plane at 10:00:03.[32][82] Five seconds later, he asked, "Is that it? Shall we finish it off?" Another hijacker responded, "No. Not yet. When they all come, we finish it off."[48] Jarrah once again pitched the airplane up and down.
A passenger in the background cried, "In the cockpit! If we don't, we'll die!" at 10:00:25. Sixteen seconds later, another passenger yelled, "Roll it!", possibly referring to using the food cart.[32] The voice recorder captured the sound of the passengers using the food cart as a battering ram against the cockpit door.[29]: 104
Jarrah ceased the violent maneuvers at 10:01:00 and recited the takbir twice. He then asked another hijacker, "Is that it? I mean, shall we put it down?" The other hijacker responded, "Yes, put it in it, and pull it down."[32] The passengers continued their assault and at 10:02:17, a male passenger said, "Turn it up!" A second later, a hijacker said, "Pull it down! Pull it down!" At 10:02:33, Jarrah made a desperate plea in Arabic, repeatedly screaming "Give it to me!", possibly referring to the plane's yoke.[29]: 104–105
The hijackers inside the cockpit are heard yelling "No!" over the sound of breaking glass. The final spoken words on the recorder were a calm voice in English instructing, "Pull it up."[83] The plane then crashed into an empty field in Stonycreek, Pennsylvania, about 20 minutes' flying time from Washington, D.C.[32] The last entry on the voice recorder was made at 10:03:09.[48] The last piece of flight data was recorded at 10:03:10.[84]
There is disagreement among some family members of the passengers and the investigative officials as to whether the passengers managed to breach the cockpit or even break the cockpit door. The 9/11 Commission Report concluded that "the hijackers remained at the controls but must have judged that the passengers were only seconds from overcoming them".[32] Many of the passengers' family members, having heard the audio recordings, believe the passengers breached the cockpit[83] and killed at least one of the hijackers guarding the cockpit door; some interpreted the audio as suggesting that the passengers and hijackers struggled for control of the yoke.[85][86]
Vice President Dick Cheney, in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center deep under the White House, authorized Flight 93 to be shot down, but upon learning of the crash, is reported to have said, "I think an act of heroism just took place on that plane."[87]
Requiescant in pace.